HI, WE MOVED INTO THIS HOUSE 13 YEARS AGO AND ON DECORATING
WE QUICKLY FOUND THAT WE NEEDED TO STABILISE ALL SURFACES
BEFORE USING EMULSION PAINT, IHAVE PAINTED THIS CEILING TWICE
AND HAS BEEN NO PROBLEM THIS TIME HOWEVER WHEN I WENT TO
PREPARE THE CEILING THE PAINT CAME OFF IN LARGE SHEETS LIKE
WALLPAPER SO I STRIPPED IT ALL OFF AND TREATED THE SURFACE
WITH P.V.A. AS OPPOSED TO THE STABILISING SOLUTION I HAD USED
13 YEARS AGO, IMAGINE MY SUPPRISE AND LANGUAGE WHEN THE
POLYCELL TEXTURED FINISH JUST FELL OFF THE CEILING IN GREAT
SHEETS CAN ANYBODY COME UP WITH A SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM
IT IS CAUSING ME A LOT OF GRIEF. THANKS IN ADVANCE BASIL
P.S. THINK ORIGINAL FINISH WAS DISTEMPER OF WALLPAMUR OR
SOME SORT OF LIMEWASH.

I am not sure if I understood correctly , but I think you have stripped back and PVA'd the ceiling then applied a textured coating ?

Anyway PVA is not the same as stabiliser the best for interior use is Artex stabilex but first the ceiling must be cleaned down as much as possible with water and scraping .

Unfortunatly your ceiling is made up of layers of distemper ,paints , pva ' one of these has failed due to the weight of the new coating , the existing surfaces becoming wet or the new coating shrinking slightly as it dried .

The solution would be to strip it all back as far as you can until you have a sound surface or overboard with 9mm .